Transforming a subsidiary website to appeal to a highly specific audience.

Creating a website for a specific audience

Case Study

Increasing Revenue

Through Sales Leads, E-Commerce, SEO
and Partner Self-Service

GE Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of General Electric, uses software-defined machines and solutions to provide rapid insights to oil and gas customers. As a digital industrial leader, GE Oil & Gas (GE O&G) improves the performance, output and productivity of its industry through a global infrastructure and the expertise of other GE subsidiaries.

Creating a websitespecifically for oil and gas engineers

The GE O&G website was previously a website within the main GE.com site. This meant the entire website – from the structure of the products and industries to the contact pages – was set up to appeal to the average GE customer, not the oil and gas industry. And because it had to fit within the main website, GE O&G had little, if any, ability to customize it.

Content for the big screen

The GE O&G website was previously a website within the main GE.com site. This meant the entire website – from the structure of the products and industries to the contact pages – was set up to appeal to the average GE customer, not the oil and gas industry. And because it had to fit within the main website, GE O&G had little, if any, ability to customize it.

There was an incredible amount of content on the site, in different types and in different formats and none of it worked together to tell a cohesive story– which made it increasingly difficult and confusing for customers to navigate. Not to mention that the sheer volume and confusing organization made it difficult for employees to regularly update the information to provide fresh content to customers.

But most important, the website wasn’t helping the company increase revenue. Information was the same throughout the sales funnel. Leads weren’t sent to the right salesperson. And it was almost impossible to track where leads came from so that GE O&G knew which content, topics and campaigns to focus on.

When the company decided to develop a stand-alone website during a company wide migration to Drupal, they partnered with Centerline to design and build a new content-driven site that would drive revenue and position the company as a thought leader. Instead of a website full of technical spreadsheets and product information, GE O&G wanted a site that told the story of its business while providing content that helped solve the problems that oil and gas engineers face every day.

And yes, it needed to be done quickly. Like the day before yesterday.

Turning designs into a website with up-to-date content and an easy path to purchase

The first step was taking inventory of the content already on the site to design a new site that would grow with GE O&G. With so much existing content along with many new web pages to create as part of the project, getting an approved design quickly was the top priority. The solution – rapid wireframing, which is a technique that Centerline commonly uses with clients to quickly get approval on designs.

Everyone on the team – at GE O&G and at Centerline – gathered in a Centerline conference room and got to work. Amid the brainstorming, Centerline graphic designers created wireframed mockups of each page on the spot. Each review cycle, making changes and obtaining approval, all took place in an hour – sometimes less. It was collaborative. It was quick. And it delivered the results GE O&G was looking for.

Examples of rapid wireframe iterations

Centerline then got to work creating a website that would be scalable for future technology and business needs. The back-end security to protect both GE O&G and its customers was also an important aspect of the project. The Centerline development team leveraged past drupal experience to create code that works within the Drupal ecosystem/framework, reducing the potential of time-consuming maintenance and errors when Drupal updates.

Since the main measure of the new website’s success was increasing revenue, Centerline focused on creating a Contact Us page that provided an easy path to purchase. The page needed to be strategic because it is the bridge from passively viewing the website to partnering with GE O&G.

The solution – customizing the placement of the Contact Us page based on where the customer was in the buying cycle. The link was placed right next to the most important information on the page based on the type of content. Most important, the form was programmed to route inquiries through Salesforce, the CRM system, to the GE employee best able to help the customer. The goal – to get each potential customer to the right person as quickly as possible.

In order to keep current with evolving problems, the site must constantly provide new and interesting content – which means that the new site had to be easily and quickly updated with new content created by GE employees. But the content had to be useful, relevant and written in the GE O&G brand’s voice.

To get all content creators up to speed, Centerline hosted a two-day in-person training in Italy, while employees in China and the U.S. dialed in via webcast. Everything the employees needed to create engaging content was covered through presentations and writing exercises – topic generation, interviewing techniques, and how to write in the brand voice of GE O&G.

Increasing revenue and customer satisfaction

Each customer visiting the new GE O&G website now views fresh content that provides information about the industry that is needed to make the best oil and gas decisions for their company. In turn, this builds trust with the GE O&G brand. And when a customer is ready to buy, the website allows him or her to compare products, find in-depth information and explore similar products in one place.

GE O&G now also has the information needed to make business decisions – user feedback, web monitoring, traffic benchmarking and social listening. The site also makes it easier to integrate all the customer contact points – social, email, phone, chat – to create a personalized experience for each customer.

Most important, the new website has increased GE O&G revenue through sales leads, e-commerce, SEO and channel partner self-service.

The new website is much more than a facelift. It is now a tool that has made a significant difference in GE O&G where it really matters – meaning happy customers and increased sales.